Posts Tagged ‘sales career’

Is the company you represent, whether you own it or sell for it, sales driven? Just because you are part of a sales team does not mean the company (of which the sales team, in many cases, is but one of many divisions) is sales driven. Does your firm have a “sales culture,” flexible strategies, and a competitive sales philosophy? And, is that philosophy inculcated into the team on a frequent basis and buttressed with external sales materials and training? Hopefully you do not work for a firm that merely dumps you into a vast, high turnover bullpen to sink or swim, your only training provided through “sales floor osmosis,” relying only upon your ability to cannily pick out which sales reps to mimic. This approach does not lend itself to the development of a high performance sales career, and if this is where you currently find yourself pounding the phones, then your tenure at this short sighted organization will most likely be short-lived.

span style=”font-family: arial; font-size: medium; color: #ffd700;”>Best in class sales teams are always part of a sales driven company that invests in the team and put the needs of their closers front and center. The most competitive companies often ensure that all its divisions focus on supporting and empowering the sales team, guaranteeing the reps have all the tools and back-up necessary to generate revenue. And, of the many things a sales team needs in order to compete effectively, one of the imperatives is a sales process which is flexible and always evolving. The fundamentals might remain the same, but as prospect organizations evolve, economies become more complex and technologies change, so must the nuances of your approach, presentation and closing methodologies. The best firms don’t just stand on ceremony and count on one way of getting the job done, they invest in materials, literature, technology and sales training tools that allow the skill-sets of there reps to remain fresh and sharp. In fact, according to an Aberdeen Group study, start-ups, early adapters, and innovative companies were 52% more likely than traditional organizations (the type that cling to the “old ways”) to make use of external forms of sales training. Consequently, these fresh-thinking, supercharged firms outperformed laggard companies in many key areas, from achievement of quota, to year over year revenue increases.